US consumer sentiment rises in April despite uncertainties: Survey

ANKARA

US consumer sentiment in April increased in April, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday.

The index of consumer sentiment increased 5.8 points to 65.2 in April, from 59.4 in March, according to final results of the survey compiled from around 500 consumers.

The index of current economic conditions rose 2.2 points to 69.4 in April, up from 67.2.

The index of consumer expectations soared 8.2 points to 62.5, from 54.3.

"Consumers still anticipate that the national unemployment rate will inch downward, acting to improve consumers' outlook for the national economy," said Richard Curtin, chief economist with Surveys of Consumers, in a statement.

Curtin noted that global economy has added more uncertainties about prospects for the US economy, including the growing involvement in the military support for Ukraine, and new supply chain disruptions from COVID crisis in China.

"The goal of a soft landing will be more difficult to achieve given the uncertainties that now prevail, raising prospects for a halt, or even a temporary reversal, in the Fed's interest rate policies," he said.

"The probability of consumers reaching a tipping point will increasingly depend on prospects for a strong labor market and continued wage gains," he added.

University of Michigan said in a separate statement that Curtin will be succeeded by Joanne Hsu, a principal economist at the Federal Reserve Board, as the director of the surveys.

Curtin has served as the director of the Surveys of Consumers in the University's Survey Research Center since 1976, according to the statement.

Hsu served in the Fed most recently as a principal economist, while she also worked as a consumption analyst, contributing information on consumption to the GDP forecast.